Scripture: 2 Chronicles 19:11 Act with courage, and may the Lord be with those who do well.

Quote from Pray While You’re Prey: “My problem with asking [God] for what I want is not being able to wait for Him to give it to me.”

The other day I went to get a pedicure. I arrived and was greeted cheerfully by the owner. She and her employee were busy with clients, but she told me to have a seat in the chair and one of them would be with me or another employee would arrive. I settled into the chair, a massage chair, and just relaxed and waited. The owner, realizing that I had been sitting for a while, called the employee who was supposed to be en route to see how much longer. She kept apologizing profusely for my wait, but I told her it was fine. I just closed my eyelids and got a much needed massage. It was about forty-five minutes before the employee arrived that was supposed to do my pedicure. I only know that because the massage chair runs in fifteen-minute cycles and I had to restart it twice. There were more apologies, and then, I got one of the best, most-relaxing, beautifully-done pedicures that I have ever gotten. I even got to continue sitting in the massage chair while my toes dried. After a while, it was hard to get up, but I had to eat dinner. In that moment, I realized that waiting patiently is not all that bad. There was a time when I would have been rude about the wait. I would have kept asking when I was going to be served. I will admit that there was I time that I would not have exhibited very Christian-like behavior. However, I have been a patron of this shop for a while now and I know that the owner meant no harm, nor did her employee. She did not want to stop what she was doing and rush; she wanted me to have a good experience, so I had to wait. I chose to wait patiently. The experience ended up being rewarding, and did I mention, relaxing. As I sat to write this devotion, I realize that I only used the word “patience” once in the book, Pray While You’re Prey, I never knew that. In retrospect, I would imagine that it is because patience has been an issue for me. Waiting on God has been an issue for me. When I want something, I want it when I want it and how I want it. But God has shown me that it is best for me to wait for what He wants for me, when He wants it and how He wants it because what He wants for me surpasses every expectation of which I could ever dream. It is not easy to wait patiently. It takes faith and courage. Right now, I have students who, with good intentions, are trying to think of people for me to date. They are teenagers and thirty-five seems really old to them, so they cannot wrap their brains around the fact that I am not married and do not have any children. To be honest, it is hard for me to wrap my brain around it at times. I look at my friends who have husbands and are having babies or even watching children graduate from high school and I wonder if it will ever be my turn. Yet I know that God has an amazing plan for my life, so I have to wait on Him, not just in my singleness, but for my career moves and for everything in my life. Others may not understand why I or you do not just step out and make something happen. That is okay. Trust me, I have tried things my way and I like God’s way much better. It is not always the easy way or the fastest way, but it is the way that is worth it! Because He is THE WAY, THE TRUTH, and THE LIFE. Wait patiently on God. Don’t stop living your life; just surrender your life to God and allow Him to move. Waiting patiently is an act of courage and He will be with you.

Prayer Thank You, God for being a God that may delay, but does not deny my desires. Please forgive me for trying to rush You into giving me what I want. Lord, please help me to wait with expectation that I will receive Your favor for Your glory In Jesus’ Name, Amen

Pray While You’re Prey Weekly Devotions for Singles

Week Forty SixDon’t Forget to Pray

Scripture: James 1:5-8 (MSG)

If you don’t know what you’re doing, pray to the Father. He loves to help. You’ll get his help, and won’t be condescended to when you ask for it. Ask boldly, believingly, without a second thought. People who “worry their prayers” are like wind-whipped waves. Don’t think you’re going to get anything from the Master that way, adrift at sea, keeping all your options open.

Quote from Pray While You’re Prey: “I hope to learn and to teach others to PRAY...”

The title of my book and this devotion series is, Pray While You’re Prey. While it may seem like much of the focus is on the second “prey,” the issue of singleness, most of the focus should be on the first “pray.” It never ceases to amaze me that God wants to communicate with me. Who am I that He is concerned about me? Who am I that He should even care? God created heaven and earth and everything in it. He hung the sun, the moon, and the stars. He gave life to plants, animals, man and woman. He is all-knowing, ever-present and all powerful. Why would He, as great as He is want to talk to a speck of dust like me? Simply, He wants to talk to me because I am His. God doesn’t want us to worship Him out of religion and routine. God wants a relationship. He wants us to worship Him in spirit and in truth. How can we be our true selves before God if we do not communicate with Him? God desires intimacy, authenticity, and dependency. He wants to help. But, we have to stop thinking that our issues are too small to bother God. We have to stop thinking that God is a genie meant to grant wishes. We need to start thinking about how we like those we love to communicate with us. Imagine a relationship in which the person you love only talks to you when he or she needs something. Imagine a relationship in which your significant other does not want to share the intimate details of his or her feelings. The difference is that in human relationships, we may never know what is hidden deep within, but God always knows our innermost thoughts and desires. He is just wondering why we don’t bring them to Him. Imagine a relationship where one person does all the talking and never listens. Communication is two ways. Yes, God wants to hear our thoughts, our pains, our joys, our desires, our victories, but He also wants us to listen. He wants us to come to Him boldly and believing that He and He alone has the answer. We need to not go to God worried that He won’t answer. While we might not always hear the answer we want to hear, we have to know that God’s answer is best and that there is no other option, but to follow His path. If you find yourself feeling empty, exasperated, exhausted, truly ask yourself if you have been communicating with God. Trust me, I know it is easy to run to a friend or family member with every thought or concern, but as well meaning as that person may be, we cannot forget to pray. We must keep the lines of communication open with the Loving Father who only wants our best for his glory!

Prayer Thank You, God for being a God that I don’t have to be scared to talk to. Please forgive me for running to others when I need to cast my cares upon You. Lord, please help me to never be lax in my communication and relationship with You. In Jesus’ Name, Amen

Scripture: Romans 12:3 The Message The only accurate way to understand ourselves is by what God is and by what He does for us, not by what we are and what we do for Him.”

Quote from Pray While You’re Prey: “Do you believe that God is sovereign and that He has a plan for your life?”

There are times when I find myself trying to figure God out. I find myself trying to make sense of what is happening in my life and trying to guess God’s next move. It is all really very silly. God has ways and thoughts that are so much higher than anything that we could ever conceive (Isaiah 55). I think to myself that if I do the right things and say the right things, then there should be certain outcomes. However, my focus is all wrong. In order to understand my life and to understand my purpose, I cannot look at what I do or say or think. I have to look at who God is and what He does for me. In the context of singleness, I have spent many years trying to figure out the right clothes to wear, the right words to say, the proper ways to flirt, so as to not upset the Father. I have tried to stay away from certain places so I do not embarrass the Father. I have tried to sing, praise and give to impress the Father. Sometimes, I do all of this, in an effort to get a mate, not to discover who God is and what He means to me. In doing so, I tell God that He is not enough for me. When I start to believe that I am who I am because of what I do, I am leaving God out of the equation. And, I know that I am not the only person who knows for a fact that there would be no me without Him. In the season of singleness, there is an opportunity for self discovery. There is a chance to understand who we are, not as a spouse or parent, not defined by our career or ministry, but defined by what God is and what He does for us. Use this time to discover, to understand to unravel, the beauty created in you by God’s grace, His mercy, His love and His favor. Allow that to satisfy your soul. Lonely times will come, but if you understand who you are in Christ, you can make it to the other side. Know that God is sovereign and He has a plan for you that is not defined by what you do for Him, but what He does for you!

Prayer Thank You, God for being sovereign and for having a plan for my life. Please forgive me for trying to understand myself outside of who You are and what You have done for me. Lord, please help me to trust that You always know what is best and that my purpose is found in You. In Jesus’ Name, Amen

Pray While You’re Prey Weekly Devotions for Singles

Week Forty FourGuess Who’s Coming to Dinner

Scripture: Revelation 3:20 Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with Me.

Quote from Pray While You’re Prey: “There are so many people in the world who have yet to discover the wonders of God. While we sit and complain about the things that we don’t have, do we ever stop to think about how fortunate we are to have Christ?”

I love to eat! I especially like to go to a nice restaurant and enjoy a delectable meal. As a singleton, that usually means that I am dining alone. There was a time when I would not eat at restaurants because I was afraid that people would stare at me or pity me because I was dining alone. So, when a new restaurant opened, I would envy every person who got to go and enjoy the restaurant with their significant other. I would whine and complain about how unfair it was that I would never get to go to these nice places to enjoy a meal because I had no one with whom to dine. Then, on one vacation, I decided that, rather than order takeout, visit a drive-thru, or get room service, I would go to different restaurants. I would go and enjoy dinner all by myself. After all, I was on vacation by myself and I was in a town where no one knew me, so they could not judge me for eating alone. Eventually, I got the hang of dining alone. I no longer denied myself the experience of trying new restaurants just because I had no one special in my life with whom to dine. There are many times when we get so caught up in what we do not have that we start to drown in our loneliness. It is as if, because we are single, everything else about our lives has to be miserable. However, if you find yourself having that kind of defeated mindset, you are well-served to not enter into a relationship anytime soon. In a relationship, there should be two people who feel victorious and whole on their own that come together to create something powerful. If you will listen, you will hear that God is knocking at the door of your heart. He wants your attention. He wants your adoration. God wants to spend time with you. God, the very same God who created heaven and earth and everything in it that you desire, cares enough for you that He wants some alone time with you. He knocks, but will you answer? Or, will you be so busy weeping and wailing and crying, “Woe is me!” that you don’t even notice that the Savior is waiting to enter your heart. He wants to make you feel whole and complete in Him. So that, mate or no mate, you are never alone. Listen to His voice and let Him into your heart fully. Dine with Him daily. Feast on His Word. Drink from His well of Living Water.

Prayer Thank You, God for giving me the opportunity to dine with You and commune with You. Please forgive me for thinking that there is something missing from my life. Lord, please help me to hear You and accept Your will for my life. In Jesus’ Name, Amen